What is WiFi calling – Everything You Need To Know

WiFi calling is the perfect tool to keep in touch with friends and family if you don’t have a telephone line. Picture this for a moment. You are arriving at your final destination’s airport. Your flight was delayed and now you need to call your host to come and pick you up.

You don’t have an international telephone line, but you can access the internet because of free WiFi available at the airport. If connected, you can use several smartphone applications like Whatsapp, Facebook & Skype to make a call.

The problem is solved and you still have time left to prepare your upcoming travel plan. That is not how WiFi calling works though. It is a built-in smartphone function and currently only available for the newest generations.

Nevertheless, WiFi calling is still a mystery because there are only a few people using it today. As we are always thinking about how we can help you to improve your means of communication, we sat down and collected the most important information to answer your question: “What is WiFi Calling?”.

Here is a small guide to learn a bit of how to make WiFi calls and stay always in touch. So sit back and relax because you are about to improve your communication experience.

What Is WiFi Calling?

A WiFi call is like a regular call but the channel used is the internet instead of a phone line. When you use WiFi calling you won’t be using your carrier’s network connection. Instead, you are going to make voice calls through the WiFi network. You can use the WiFi connection at the hotel, home, office or even a free/paid WiFi hotspot. Therefore, the first thing you need to enjoy this service is WiFi access.

How To Set Up WiFi Calling On Your Smartphone?

You must know WiFi calling is not an app. It is a function which is installed on your phone. With that, you can make and receive calls from areas with no coverage. Any WiFi network can be used for WiFi calling, either a free or paid WiFi connection. If you are using your own phone data you only need to enable WiFi calling.

In all cases, you must remember WiFi calling is very useful when you are in a zone with weak carrier coverage. You can set this function as your default way of placing a call or only if you lose phone signal.

What Are The Alternatives To WiFi Calling?

However, if your phone doesn’t have that function you can always download an app. Once you have already installed it, it’s necessary that the person, whom you want to call, has the same app too. In this way as long as you have data on your phone you are able to make a WiFi call.

On the other hand, if you don’t have any data on your Smartphone, you can always activate your WiFi search engine. Remember big cities like Los Angeles or Paris have public WiFi so finding free internet won’t be a problem. Likewise, there are WiFi map apps like WiFi Map LLC from Google. You are going to be online anywhere you are in the world if you want to.

You might ask yourself now: “What is the point of WiFi Calling?”. The biggest advantage is that you are don’t rely on the cellular network anymore! There are rural areas in which the mobile networks may not give you the best reception but your WiFi network at home works perfectly fine. The function to make WiFi Calls is excellent in those situations.

How To Make WiFi Calls On An Android?

If your phone is an Android, you need to download the apps compatible with it. Although there are apps which you can set up on your phone no matter its operating system. Facebook, Whatsapp and Skype are some of them. Thus it is super easy to use, you only open the respective app. Later click the call (or video call) symbol and you will be ready to talk. Some companies such as Google even have their own dedicated apps like Google Talk.

Nonetheless, those apps use voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) which is different to the system used by WiFi calling. You have to set up the WiFi calling function on your smartphone, so you won’t need to connect to a service or fire up an app to use it. In this sense, you may want to know there are many options to choose the right app. If you have the joy to be in the magnificent Dublin and you need make some calls to book a Guinness tour, there is a company can help you on that.

Vopium will connect you to a nearby local access number and later to your international calling destination. Then you pay your mobile service provider for a local call and you pay Vopium for the international part of the call. If your smartphone has a connection to a WiFi or 3G database, Vopium keeps your call almost the entire way until the country of destination. When caller and receiver are both Vopium users, the call is for free.

How To Make WiFi Calls On An iPhone?

Something important to keep in mind: in order to make a WiFi calling from iOS phone system; you need an iPhone 5c or later versions. Turn on the WiFi calling function in Settings –> Phone –>WiFi Calling. Some smartphones require you to enter or confirm your address for emergency services.

Once WiFi calling is available, you will see WiFi after your carrier name in the status bar, later your calls will use this function. You can also use WiFi calling function on other Apple devices as iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch or Mac. Check the official website to see if your device supports WiFi Calling.

On the other hand, every app has its IOS and Android version. So if you are an Apple guy, there are some apps you can use in order to make a WiFi call. Companies like Tango provide mobile messaging service to connect millions of people around the world.

Tango offers calling, video calling and more. It has several games you can play with your friends or by yourself. This app is easy to use and make a WiFi calling isn’t the exception. Viber is another app for calling and messaging which stands out for its safety system. All the calls and texts have a protection from an integral encryption which is the latest advanced security mechanism.

Other companies like Orange offer a calling service under a WiFi access even if you don’t have mobile coverage. So if you are over 2600m altitude, admiring the imposing Cathedral of Salt in Colombia you can still receive calls. It’s really cool!

Additionally to all this, you should know one of the advantages of WiFi calling is you don’t need to add your contacts to this service as you do with Skype and Facebook. You will have access to your actual phone book and your contacts don’t need to download any app.

What Are The Disadvantages of WiFi Calling?

Science and technology are growing exponentially. Meanwhile, in a capitalistic world where free trade is a sort of a needed mantra, there are millions of items fighting to go to your home. Then you have much material to explore and to choose but at the same time, you need to consider the disadvantages of WiFi calling.

Firstly, there are only a few phones with this function. Apple only offers it in the iPhone 5c or later versions; however, there are many more Androids which have it. In general, WiFi calling is free service but if you need to make an international call, you have to pay for it.

Another thing to consider is the price. WiFi calling is usually discounted from the phone package per minute so it is no cheaper than a Skype call. Perhaps you are thinking that WiFi calling is not for you, we can suggest another solution. You can pick a Pocket WiFi.

A Nice Option To Use WiFi Calling

My Webspot offers a small device calles Pocket Wifi. It broadcasts a WiFi network, up to 15 meters around, on which you can connect up to five wifi enabled devices (Smartphones, tablets, laptops) at once. Renting a Pocket WiFi or Mifi will allow you to get 4G LTE and unlimited data on the go during your international trip.

It is the only interntational internet option that allows you to browse the internet for so fast and long.It is prepaid, so you will not have surprises and you can receive it anyplace you want.

Whatever your choice to communicate is, you must remember something. You are entitled to use all the innovations to improve your life and experiences as long as you don’t become a slave to them.

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